Could we actually see a Supergirl TV show?

The next superhero to be getting a reboot could be female, for a change. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers Television wants to make a Supergirl TV show.

They’ve apparently asked Ali Adler (who co-created The New Normal and wrote for Glee) to write a pilot script and Greg Berlanti (creator of Arrow and former Dawson’s Creek writer) to produce it. Adler and Berlanti previously worked together on No Ordinary Family, the 2010 TV show about a family with superhuman powers which starred Buffy’s Julie Benz. As Supergirl is a DC Comics character, Geoff Johns from DC is expected to be involved in the project as well.

Supergirl (Kryptonian name Kara Zor-El) was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in 1959 as Superman’s female counterpart (who was pretty good at saving lives, for a woman). With the exception of animated series, she hasn’t been seen on screen since Laura Vandervoort’s recurring role on Smallville, which ended in 2011. She was also brought to life in the 1984 Supergirl movie, but that was such a flop that the character’s rarely been seen since. (Am I the only one who watched that film obsessively as a kid? It featured Lois Lane’s sister. And a coven!)

Perhaps to avoid the film’s still-lingering stench of failure, or to attract a wider audience than only comic book fans, it won’t actually be called Supergirl, but Deadline reports that Super and Girl are both in contention.

In the last three years, there have been three separate attempts to revive Wonder Woman, including a never-aired but much-ridiculed pilot by Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley. Is it possible that the key to making a new iconic female superhero for TV is to put down the golden lasso and try a younger, fresher character instead? If they want to get really wacky, they might even choose to not have her busting out of skin-tight Lycra. Fingers crossed.

Image via Julian Fong’s Flickr.

Diane Shipley

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